


An Evening Out

by goseaward



Category: England Series - K. J. Charles
Genre: First Time Bottoming, M/M, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:21:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28257621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goseaward/pseuds/goseaward
Summary: Daniel and Curtis visit a very particular kind of club together. Curtis leaves with much to think about.
Relationships: Archie Curtis/Daniel da Silva
Comments: 16
Kudos: 95
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	An Evening Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theoldgods](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoldgods/gifts).



> theoldgods, I loved reading your letter with your detailed description of what you liked about this canon, and I thought I could throw a few of your prompts into a blender and come up with a story. ("how to take a dick" was, I admit, particularly inspiring.) I slightly fudged timelines on this particular kind of club, as my research indicated there was a crackdown on nightclubs around this time, so it's sort of a crossover between the kind of private sex club described in Teleny & the nightclubs you'd see later in the Edwardian period.
> 
> Many thanks to Dira Sudis for the extremely rapid turnaround beta!

The first thing Curtis noticed was that there were men like him in the club.

He hadn't been sure there would be. In his mind, still, he had some of those old thoughts about which kinds of men did what. It didn't matter that he'd realised he was just like Daniel, that he only wanted men, in addition to all the other ways they were compatible, in views on life and society and so forth. It didn't matter that some of his deepest joy came from servicing Daniel, lavishing pleasure on the man until he cracked and abandoned himself to Curtis's hands and mouth and cock. It didn't matter that he knew very well that those ideas were wrong for many people, and not just him; that all the thoughts he had about how he was different were the result of other people lying to him about how people ought to be. Despite all that...he still, often, expected himself to be the exception.

And so it was meaningful to him, to walk into a room like this and find plenty of men that fit his own mould. Meaningful especially for the surprise, perhaps. There were other things Daniel had warned him of, or that he'd already known to expect: some people in dresses, some with painted faces, some in shocking states of déshabillé, some doing things with an audience that Curtis could scarcely bring himself to do in private. And some of all of those groups were men built like Curtis.

"I'm surprised you stay with me, with all of this available to you," Curtis said into Daniel's ear.

Daniel looked up at him, quickly, and a smile lit his eyes. "You're more impressive than any of them. Perhaps I should set up some kind of tournament, let you defeat them all and then claim me as your prize."

"That seems dangerous. Some of them might fight like you."

"As little as possible?"

"With weapons I don't have," Curtis said.

"Mm. Perhaps." Daniel took his arm and led him to an empty bench. They'd discussed ahead of time how much Curtis would be comfortable with, in the club Daniel was bringing him to, and Curtis had decided that—for the first foray at least—his limit would be what they could do in any public location, at least when drinking.

A servant found them quickly with a tray of drinks. Curtis sat back and looked around the room, taking in more detail, as he drank. The space was lavishly decorated with velvet curtains on the walls and gilding on the fixtures. That was not much like the clubs Curtis normally went to, but then, he didn't normally go to Bohemian clubs at all, so he had no idea if the opulence was because this club was for inverts or because it was for artists. There was a small ensemble playing music hall tunes in one corner, and an open space where a few couples were dancing, instead of the more blatant activities occurring on the settees and chaises scattered about the room. Lamps brightened the room so it was easy to see those activities.

Really, though, it was less different than he might have expected. Most of the men were drinking and talking and watching the crowd, as they might in any club. Perhaps sitting a little closer together than Curtis might, in another club, and of course the crowd was far more interesting to watch than the usual, but overall there was a similar air. Some of the people were wearing dresses or face paint, but one could drink and talk in a dress or face paint, after all. One could drink or talk whilst sitting in another man's lap, too, as was being amply demonstrated.

Of course, it was rather harder to talk when one had one's mouth full of another chap's prick, and that was happening, too. So there were differences, as well. But Curtis's eyes did not want to linger on those men: he didn't begrudge them the act but he did rather feel it ought to be done in private.

"How are you finding your first taste of Sodom?" Daniel said.

Curtis turned and saw Daniel watching him, a typical sphinxlike smile on his face. "It's hardly my _first_ taste," he said.

Daniel's smile curved more broadly, crinkling his eyes at the corners. "It isn't, is it," he said. "All right. I'll be more pedestrian. How are you finding the club?"

"It's very..." Curtis cast for a word. "Bohemian."

"Yes."

"Do the other sorts of clubs you go to have people, er, handling each other like this?"

"Some touching," Daniel agreed, "but not this far. Also, that usually involves more drinking, and more, ah, financial incentives."

"Ah." Curtis took another glance around the room. He had no idea how to tell if a man was paid company or not. "Are any of the people here, er...?"

"Not many. The gentleman who hosts these little soirees doesn't like it. He thinks it's more likely to bring the police."

"Oh," Curtis said. "Is it?"

"No one is completely safe, of course, but this is safer than most. Far too much trouble for everyone."

"Even the police?"

Daniel's smile slid back into something more sardonic. "It would cut into their profits. Their bribes," he added, when Curtis didn't catch on right away.

"Oh," Curtis said again.

A young man passed them, carrying drinks and giving them a broad and inviting smile. He was attractive, Curtis supposed; he was still becoming used to connecting what felt like aesthetic appreciation to what he now realised he actually wanted. He looked at Daniel in a panic, unsure how to respond, and Daniel folded his hands in his lap and looked back at Curtis steadily.

When the young man was far enough away, Curtis said, "How ought we handle that sort of thing?"

"Just smile politely. You'll be understood. Trust me, if that young man meets someone who returns his interest, the response will be blatant enough even you would notice."

Curtis laughed. "I notice _your_ responses," he said. "Now, at least."

"Most of the time."

Curtis searched Daniel's face, and couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Is there anything in particular you want to do or see whilst we're here? I'd like you to enjoy this evening as much as possible. What is it?"

Curtis's eyes had been caught by a scene behind Daniel. There were some standing-height tables scattered about the room, with floor-length white tablecloths on them, and a young man had suddenly appeared from underneath one, licking his lips. Now that Curtis looked, he could see that a rather older man standing at the table looked flushed. Even more shockingly to Curtis, there were other men at the table as well. "A man just came out from under a tablecloth!" Curtis said in a low hiss.

"Oh, there's an idea," Daniel said, with interest. "You could even do that in a regular club, if you were very careful." Curtis's expression must have given him away before he could think of what to say, because Daniel laughed loudly and touched his hand. "Not you in particular, my dear. I simply hadn't considered it, and am cursing my failure of imagination."

Except that Curtis was now picturing it. He could never have Daniel do that to him—he knew he had no control of his expression, and the thought of anyone watching his face as he climaxed, even if they couldn't see the rest of him, was far too embarrassing to contemplate. But Daniel had very good control of his expression. If Curtis got under the table—

No. It would not be safe, or comfortable.

"Or we can discuss it at home," Daniel said, correctly interpreting his silence.

"The tables aren't very wide. I was trying to picture if I'd even be able to fit."

Daniel's eyebrows shot up, and Curtis gave him his most devilish smile. He did like it when he managed to surprise him. "Noted," Daniel said.

"Do you know when your, ah, friend is supposed to arrive?" Daniel was meeting a contact here, for something he hadn't told Curtis the full details of. Curtis, to his own surprise, had volunteered to join him despite the lack of physical danger; to his greater surprise, he was not thoroughly regretting it, now they were here.

"An hour or so. I thought we'd be able to make conversation at least that long."

"Of course," Curtis said. "You'll bear the burden of most of it, anyway."

"It's an extreme challenge, but I will do my best." Daniel's fingers twitched towards Curtis's on the bench cushion between them, but in the end remained where they were. "I do appreciate your coming out with me, Archie. I know it's even more outside your experience than the usual events I drag you to."

"Of course," Curtis repeated. "It's...giving me things to think about already."

"Well, don't strain yourself," Daniel said, lightly, and Curtis moved his hand instead, to twine their fingers together for the briefest moment.

* * *

When they reached Curtis's flat, they moved without discussion to the bedroom. Curtis sat in one of the armchairs by the fireplace and Daniel immediately sat in his lap, turned sideways with his legs over the arm of the chair. Curtis immediately thought of the men he'd seen at the club sitting the way they were sitting now, how they'd looked, and felt himself begin to rouse at the imagined sight of the two of them.

"What are you thinking about?" Daniel said, leaning his head against Curtis's shoulder, so the words caused a puff of breath to warm the skin of his jaw.

The directness of the question was unusual, a sign Daniel had let down some of his perpetual guards. Curtis, therefore, gave the question some thought rather than answering glibly about how much more interesting Daniel's thoughts must be. "The men we saw doing this at the club tonight," he said at last, without elaborating. Daniel would ask him questions that would reveal his meaning better than he could say it, anyway.

"Did that appeal to you?" His voice had slipped down into a huskier register, and Curtis thought, if he looked down, he'd see Daniel in a similar state to himself. He didn't look.

"The position did, very much," he said. His arm squeezed around Daniel's waist, where it had naturally fallen. "I don't know that I would ever like doing it in public."

"No need," Daniel said.

"Would you like me to? If you did, I...might need to work up to it."

Daniel gave the question some consideration. Curtis let the silence lie comfortably, appreciating the warmth and weight of Daniel so close. "No, I think not," he said at last. "I do need to figure out how to claim you a little more obviously, though, if we ever go to an event like that again. There were a few too many eyes on you tonight, and I want you all to myself."

"On me?" said Curtis, astonished. "On you, surely. You were the most handsome man there."

"Archie, you flatter me, but—"

"No," Curtis said sternly. "Daniel, you outshone every man there. No one could hold a candle to you. I spent the whole night feeling like the luckiest man in the room because I would be taking you home at the end of it."

Daniel didn't say anything to that, either, and Curtis gave him a moment: he did not always know how to respond to compliments. "Well," he finally said, very lightly, "regardless of which one of us was drawing the eyes tonight, you might need to bestir yourself to at least put an arm around my shoulders every once in a while. Perhaps you could glare with that particularly brutish look at anyone who's looking at me."

"You'd like me to pretend to be jealous, then."

Daniel moved away, a little, so he could look up into Curtis's face. He had amusement written clear across his expression. "Pretend?"

"Yes," Curtis said. "I'm not worried."

"How...confident of you," Daniel said. He put an emphasis on it that usually meant he was thinking of some other word; the hand he drew down Curtis's neck and across his shoulder made it very clear what, just now.

But this was important. "I mean it," he said. "If you wanted someone else, it wouldn't be my place to stop you. I very much hope you don't," he added quickly, when Daniel's caress paused. "And—I should want to stop seeing you like this, I think, if you decided you wanted someone else. But I trust you'd tell me if that's what you wanted, so other people looking at you doesn't bother me, as long as they don't bother you."

Daniel was looking at him now, face tipped slightly to the side, the way he did when Curtis had done something that puzzled him. At last he gave a little shake of his head. "Well, to be very clear, _I_ get jealous. You're my Viking and I'm rather proud of you. So let's put them off next time, shall we?"

"You could put _your_ arm around _my_ shoulders," Curtis said.

Daniel smiled, warm and open, unguarded. "I suppose I could. Would you like that?"

"I wouldn't mind it. Either way."

"All right." Daniel's smile curved, more wicked now than warm. "Maybe the others will think _I_ 'm the one who puts _you_ on your knees."

"I do go on my knees for you," Curtis said. Well—not that often in that exact position, because their heights and Curtis's lingering injury made that rather more uncomfortable than Curtis liked his pleasures, but he used his mouth on Daniel often.

"You do, and you've grown very good at it too." Daniel touched a finger to the corner of Curtis's mouth, just for a moment.

"Would I like it if you—were inside me?" Curtis blurted.

Daniel blinked, paused, blinked again, and then smiled at him. "I don't know, my dear, would you?"

"Some of the men at the club," Curtis said, and stopped.

Daniel, bless him, took his meaning. "Yes, some big men do like it," he said. "It has nothing to do with that, I think. It's a physical sensation like any other. Some men like having their balls touched, some don't. Like that."

"Some men don't like having their balls touched?"

Daniel laughed heartily at the expression on his face. "I don't understand them either, but I assure you they exist."

"Well, I'd like to try."

"Having your balls touched?" Daniel asked, teasingly. He reached down and cupped Curtis's groin, which made Curtis draw in a breath. But Daniel's eyes were on his face, and Curtis knew he'd not been misunderstood.

"Having you inside me." He couldn't quite say the word _fuck_ when it came to something he was thinking of actually doing with Daniel. It sounded rather too much like something one did to someone, or had done to one, rather than something one did _with_ someone. And Curtis knew too well that even that first night, when Daniel had serviced him while they were watched and photographed, had required both of them to be invested. They didn't work any other way.

And with that thought, his nervousness vanished. With Daniel, it never truly mattered who was the gorgeous slim man and who the brutish muscular one, or who was the freely queer man and who the staid gentleman to the rest of society. With Daniel, he could be only...himself.

"My dear," said Daniel, "it would be my pleasure." His lips curled up in a small but very real smile.

"All right. How do you want me?"

Daniel squeezed his handful lightly and said, "Naked and trussed up like a pig, of course." Curtis spluttered with laughter and Daniel stood. "But naked and on the bed will be a suitable substitute if we must."

It seemed that Daniel wanted him on his front. He'd expected to be face-to-face, as they often did when they played the opposite roles, but Daniel held firm. "It will be easier this way," he said. "On both of us. You're far too heavy to hold in the right position the way you do for me."

True: Curtis often found himself with one hand on the small of Daniel's back, curving his body up so they both had room to move. This way he'd be supporting his own substantial weight.

He'd expected Daniel to get straight to it, which was an odd thing to think, he realised, because Daniel had never done anything straightforward in his life. Instead he lay down next to Curtis and made Curtis turn his head, and then kissed him till Curtis forgot the evening had any other point. He was panting for breath and fully hard when Daniel drew back, and was gratified to confirm that Daniel was in much the same state. Curtis reached out and stroked his cock a couple of times, not too fast, and Daniel kissed his ear and then slid around behind him.

"On your knees," he said. "No, you can leave your shoulders down, I just want your arse in the air." Curtis followed directions, feeling faintly ridiculous, and then imagined what Daniel would look like in the same position and decided ridiculous was not the word. "How long do you think you can hold this?"

Curtis shifted his weight, feeling out the knee. "It's all right for now, but I don't think it could handle much, ah, motion."

"Noted." Daniel's hand caressed down his hip in acknowledgement.

Nothing happened for a few moments, and Curtis finally twisted around. Daniel, unmoving, was sitting and staring at Curtis's arse. Curtis said, "Daniel?"

He appeared to blink awake out of a trance. "I apologise. The sight is...distracting." He gave Curtis a faintly embarrassed smile.

"I normally wouldn't complain," Curtis said, and Daniel must have heard the note of anxiety in his voice, because he reached out and touched Curtis on the small of the back.

"You don't, do you," Daniel said with a small sigh. The hand on Curtis's back started rubbing tiny circles and Curtis put his head back on his folded arms.

Slick fingers probed between his arse cheeks. This, at least, they had done before; Daniel would put fingers inside him, on occasion, whilst his mouth was on Curtis's prick. Curtis had never really connected that act to the preparation Daniel had taught him to do. Now, he couldn't think why. One finger was familiar, easy, except that instead of expertly seeking out the place that would make Curtis come, Daniel was thrusting it in and out. Curtis didn't mind it, but he wasn't sure of the point.

"Are you going to, ah," Curtis said.

"This is going to take some time," Daniel said. Then, several tones deeper, "Just how desperate do you want to be when I finally get inside you?"

Curtis drew in a breath, imagining it. The thought of it was already overwhelming, and if Daniel had him out of his mind first— "Best wait," he said.

Daniel didn't reply.

The hand on the small of Curtis's back was making him feel odd, somehow, like the friction was making his spine melt. As Daniel added more fingers, Curtis began to realise that this _was_ different than what Daniel usually did to him. That was to make him come. This was to stretch him. He'd known that, and yet feeling it was different. Even when Daniel began to press against him more like Curtis was used to, it felt different with his arse so spread, even if his prick leaked and jerked like it did with just one.

At last, Daniel slipped his fingers out. Curtis didn't feel any different, except for all the oil. He'd wondered if he would.

"No motion, you said?" Daniel said.

"No," Curtis said regretfully.

"On your side, then, if you would."

Curtis knew very well Daniel could move him wherever he wanted—he was quick and clever as a fox, Daniel, so while he wouldn't win on brute strength, he was never foolish enough to let brute strength be the deciding factor. But it was nice to be asked. He rolled, feeling the oil slick and cool on his arse in the open air. Daniel laid down behind him.

"Knee forward," Daniel said, putting a hand on the back of Curtis's thigh to move him how he wanted.

He went slow but steady, one long push into Curtis's body. It was astonishing. Curtis hardly found it plausible that Daniel's prick would fit, and yet he could feel it inside him. Daniel's body inside his own. He let out a choked-off groan.

Daniel stopped, one arm coming around Curtis's waist, holding him in place like an anchor. "How's that, my dear?"

"I don't know," Curtis said. Daniel would know if he lied.

"Do you need me to stop?"

" _No_ ," Curtis said emphatically.

Daniel's slick hand wrapped around Curtis's cock. Curtis gasped at the way it lit him up, and clenched hard on Daniel's prick within him. Daniel moaned behind him, muffled in his shoulder. "Fucking hell," Daniel muttered.

"Sorry," Curtis said.

"My dear, that was _not_ a complaint."

Curtis laughed and Daniel swore behind him again. "I'm trying to relax," Curtis said, "only...I'm not sure how."

"Oh," Daniel said. He paused, clearly thinking this over, and stroked Curtis's cock a few times. "I want to tell you to think relaxing thoughts, but I've a feeling you might punch me."

Since he was sure Daniel meant that as a joke—and since if he didn't know by now Curtis would never strike him, nothing Curtis could say would convince him otherwise—Curtis ignored that. "I've got your prick inside me. I'm not sure I'm supposed to find that relaxing," he said.

"Mm, no," Daniel said, voice rich with humour. "If I'm doing my job right, you're supposed to find that very...arousing."

"I do," Curtis said. He pressed his hips forward a fraction into Daniel's hand.

"So you do," Daniel said.

Without Curtis deliberately doing anything, the clench seemed to ease. Daniel sighed behind him and pushed forward. Curtis wasn't sure what he was doing until suddenly, something loosened and there was _more_ of him inside Curtis. Curtis gasped and, without thinking, reached behind to grab Daniel's hip and stop him moving.

"Archie? Is everything all right?" Daniel asked instantly.

"Sorry," Curtis said. He took a deep breath and let Daniel go. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise there was, er, more of you, and it surprised me. That's all."

"I see," Daniel said. After a pause, he added, "I should perhaps warn you there's still about half of me to go."

"Still— Good God!" Curtis said.

"We may not all have your gargantuan prick to work with," Daniel said, sounding amused, "but I'm pleased to hear I'm well-sized for your virgin arse."

"My God, how do you ever take me, it must feel like a—a wine bottle!"

"It does," Daniel said, low. "I love it. May I keep going?"

"Yes," Curtis said, and Daniel did.

Curtis cried out again the first time Daniel withdrew instead of pushing further in, but he acclimated to that, too, and it wasn't long before they had worked up a rhythm between them. Curtis had thought he knew all Daniel's noises but this act seemed to add things to his repertoire, an unusually masculine grunt when he was fully inside, a soft whine as his hips snapped forward. Curtis himself wasn't sure what noises he was making, as Daniel quite thoroughly buggered him whilst stroking his cock just often enough to keep Curtis on the edge of heaven. He felt—he didn't know how he felt. He wasn't _doing_ anything, Daniel was doing it all, and yet he felt as tense and alert as if he were taking what he usually thought of as the active part.

Suddenly the hand on his prick tightened, almost but not quite hard enough to make Curtis come, and Daniel shouted something unintelligible into Curtis's back as he thrust in deep and stayed there. With a shock, Curtis realised he'd made Daniel come, just like that. Daniel was still for perhaps a count of five, panting, and then he withdrew from Curtis's body, murmuring something soothing. Curtis felt quite definitely wetter, and he wasn't sure if it was Daniel's come or just that he wasn't so stretched any more. Daniel sat up, tugged on Curtis's shoulder until he was flat on his back, and then slid down his body and pulled Curtis's prick straight into his throat. He was wild-eyed and mussed, a flush high on his cheekbones from orgasm, as undone by pleasure as Curtis had ever seen him, and Curtis came as Daniel pushed fingers into his wet, open arse and pressed upwards.

Daniel draped himself across Curtis's body, after a perfunctory swipe with a damp cloth, and Curtis played a game with himself of twisting Daniel's sweaty hair into ever wilder shapes. "I know what you're doing," Daniel said, sleepy. "If I wanted to be in bed with an artist, I would be."

"But you wanted to be in bed with me," Curtis said.

Daniel rubbed his face along Curtis's chest, right at the top where the hair started. "Mmm."

"It's mutual."

"I'm very glad to hear it." The words were familiar, but lacked their usual acid tone. Curtis smiled to himself and wrapped his arms around Daniel, waiting for his sharp tongue to return.

At last Daniel turned his head. "Did you enjoy that?"

"Yes," Curtis said, then added, honestly, "I'm not sure how often I'll want to do it again."

"Well, you're under no obligation, my dear. I've been more than happy with how your mouth is, ah, coming along," Daniel said. He reached up and ran his thumb over Archie's lower lip, then dipped it inside. Archie licked the tip. "But I am at your service any time you'd like to try again. It is entirely up to you."

"At my service?" Curtis said. "It seemed as though you enjoyed yourself too."

Unaccountably, this raised a slight flush on Daniel's cheeks. "Yes," he said. "But that is not the important part."

"It is certainly the important part to me," Curtis said.

"Are you sure, becau—" Daniel was cut off by Curtis's mouth, coming down hard for a kiss. "Well," he continued when Curtis let him go, "all right. I enjoyed it too." He sounded mildly annoyed by this. "I am not sure who would not."

"There are some men who only prefer the passive part, aren't there?"

"Yes," Daniel said slowly. "I suppose so."

"I'm glad you're not one of them, then."

"No." Daniel was looking at him like he sometimes did, as though Archie was just slightly out of kilter with the rest of the world; Archie was never sure which things would make him do that, but it always made him feel especially fond of Daniel.

"But, Daniel, if there's anything you want that we aren't doing, you must tell me," Curtis said.

"My dear, I assure you, I'm very pleased with what we do. There are other things we _could_ do, but I don't feel that I am in any way missing out."

That was rather interesting. "Like what?"

A glint of amusement shone in Daniel's eye. "There's at least one place on my body you _haven't_ put your tongue, for example."

"What? Oh," Curtis said, realising. "Really?"

"It's very pleasurable. I could also do it to you, of course."

Curtis thought about how he felt about that. "Not...right now."

"No. Honestly, my dear, I don't think I'll be able to get hard again until tomorrow. That was very...inspiring."

"Really?" Curtis said again, knowing he was fishing for compliments and not caring.

"Really." Daniel spread his hand out on Curtis's chest. "That's always true, of course," he said quietly, and it was a confession, of its kind. Curtis knew how to read Daniel, too.

Curtis picked up Daniel's hand and brought it to his mouth, to kiss the fingers. "You too, love," he said, and saw the flash in Daniel's eyes, even if he only smiled as a response. "Now, about marking my territory the next time we go to a club—"

Daniel laughed. "That is _not_ what I said."

"I don't know, I think I like the idea." Curtis rolled them both over and buried his face in the side of Daniel's neck, sucking a kiss there, not actually hard enough to bruise.

"Oh, you brute! Get off me!" Daniel said, but he was laughing harder now, and Curtis smiled and kissed his mouth instead. He could put his arm around Daniel, next time they went to a club such as that one. It would be no hardship at all.


End file.
